Goodbye
by Snowhearte
Summary: Winry is the bright, clever new kid at school. Edward is the moody, angry one who's been there forever. But Edward wasn't always like that. When they clash, what happens? With Winry's curiousity, that could be anything. And will she ever find out what rea
1. New Girl

Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist, though I do have an Ed and Al wall scroll and a pair of pants that look kind of like Ed's.

Long blond hair spilled over the face of the sleeping girl, spreading across her pillow and off the bed to hang halfway to the floor. Her chest rose and fell in the soft breaths of sleep, face cast in an expression of peace and happiness. She rolled over, pulling the hair back up so it was just peeking over the edge of the covers, and her lips parted to give a little moan. A huge black and white dog was sprawled on the floor, his metal leg carefully positioned around his other three normal legs. He snored, loudly, legs twitching in a puppy dream. For these last few moments, as early morning sunlight peered through her window as if to check on them, it was all peaceful.

Then the Alarm Clock rang.

_BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!_

_BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!_

The girl snapped awake, blue eyes going from peacefully shut to impossibly wide. The dog jerked up with a howl and thudded out the open door and downstairs. The girl lurched to a sitting position with a screech, snatched up the Alarm Clock and threw it, still screeching. It crashed through the window and sailed into the pond, most likely zapping the fish.

The Alarm Clock was her invention, an extremely durable, steel, battery-powered alarm clock that showed the time, went off with a loud _BZZZZZZ!_ that was sure to wake up the neighbours, _and_ it got a radio signal. The only trouble was that it was too susceptible to water.

Grumbling, the girl rolled out of bed, crawling to her chest of drawers. She opened the bottom drawer, pulling out a loose black skirt and a creamy white tank top, pulling both over her pyjamas before realizing that when one gets dressed, one should probably take one's pyjamas off.

_It's too early for school,_ she grumbled at herself, struggling out of her pyjama shirt. _It's too early for my first day. It's too early to be awake._

The dog poked his cocked head through the door, staring at her questioningly as if to say, _Well? Coming?_ "One moment, Den," she told him, reaching over to flick his ear with the tip of her finger. He panted at her, then turned and trotted off. She slipped into her shirt, then sighed and dragged herself to her feet. "Mornings are shit," she muttered accurately, and followed the dog downstairs into the kitchen.

"About time, Winry," grunted the tiny old woman by the stove. "Toast on the table. Eat and get moving!" "Yes, Granny," the girl, Winry, answered meekly, sitting herself in a chair in front of a plate of toast and glass of juice. She plucked crumbs off the semi-burnt bread, not taking a bite, though she did sip at the juice—it was cranberry.

"Eat, girl," her grandmother ordered, heaving a dirty pan from last night's dinner into the dishwasher. "You don't want to be late, do you?" "Frankly I don't care," Winry said in a small voice. "What if they don't like me, Granny?" "Of course they will," her grandmother replied gruffly. "Now, when you get home I'll probably be out, so if I am take Den for a walk and unpack some of the boxes in your shop." "Okay," Winry said absently, finally taking a nibbling bite of her toast. A light blue lunch bag found its way across the room to land beside her. "Your lunch is in there. I need to go unpack some boxes in my room," her granny said. "Have a good day, Winry." "Okay," Winry said again.

She waited furtively until her grandmother was out of the room and limping up the stairs before dashing across the kitchen to dump her shredded toast in the garbage. She dumped the juice down the sink, washed her hands and snatched up her lunch. Heaving a deep breath, she grabbed her backpack from a chair and knelt to tell Den goodbye. "I'll be back in a few hours, Den," she told him, scrunching up his ears. "Be a good boy for Granny." Den whined and licked her face. Winry giggled and wiped off the doggy drool. "Bye-bye, Den," she called, slipping out the door and trotting down the street toward her new bus stop. She was the only one there this early. Sighing, she sat herself on the rough wooden bench to wait.


	2. Hello, Winry

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist, though I do have an Ed and Al wall scroll and a pair of pants that look kind of like Ed's.**

The bus was big, yellow and smelly, more on the inside than the out. The (extremely) fat bus driver smiled at her as Winry—ironically, the only one at the stop—dragged herself up the stairs. Winry gave her a diffident smile back before turning to manoeuvre her way through the much-crowded aisle.

People stared at her. Winry didn't like people staring at her unless she had just done something worthy of approval. Or praise. Either or, she didn't like this. She bit her lip in discomfort, tripping and stumbling her way to the middle of the bus to plunk herself in the seat behind a black-haired boy with a glaringly pink Hawaiian shirt.

The instant her butt hit seat, the boy whipped around and grinned at her. His grin was full and warm and addicting, and Winry could not help but grin back. "Hi!" he said cheerfully. "My name is Maes Hughes, but call me Hughes. Everyone does."

"Winry Rockbell," Winry replied, half shyly, half boldly, which is kind of an oxymoron. "I like your shirt." Hughes laughed, his yellow-green eyes crinkling. He shoved his slender, parallelogrammish glasses further up his nose. "It's my most eye-hurting," he replied, patting the fabric fondly. "Oh, these are my friends—" he indicated to the two seats diagonal from him. "Riza Hawkeye and Roy Mustang. Roy's an—" "—absolute womanizer," the blond-haired, red-eyed pretty girl cut in, flashing Hughes a Look. "Hello, Winry; my name's Riza."

"Hi," Winry said, offering her hand. Riza shook it and both girls smiled. This may sound like a cliché, but both instantly felt the bondings of true friendship and each knew she'd found a friend for life.

"I am not," Roy Mustang protested, winking at Winry and shaking her hand in turn. "I just know how to get the pretty ones." "And simultaneously _not_ cheat on Riza?" Hughes teased. Riza flushed bright red and immediately turned to Winry. "So, where did you move from?" she asked, whilst Roy and Hughes entered into a heated argument about whether or not Roy liked Riza. "Resembool," Winry replied, trying not to laugh. "It's just a couple hundred miles northeast of here—" "Yeah, I know," Riza said, obviously trying to crush her blushes. "Did you know the Elrics?"

Startled at the random question, Winry blinked. "Umm, yeah," she replied awkwardly. "My mom was friends with Trisha Elric before she and her sons Edward and Alphonse moved. I used to play with them, but it was like, so long ago. I was four when they moved. I only remember Alphonse being really sweet and Edward being short." "Uh-huh," Riza said. "Look at the back there, the very last seat. See anyone you know?" "Um," Winry said, following her new friend's finger. "No, actually, I don't." What she did see was two black headed kids fighting over a pen (they looked like twins) and a blond boy staring sullenly out the window. "Sorry?"

"Oh, it's ok," Riza said with a smile. "Must've been the wrong Elrics." And with that extremely odd comment, she turned into the conversation going on next to her as naturally as if she'd taken part in it from the beginning.

Winry spent the rest of the half-hour bus ride staring out the window, trying to puzzle out Riza's confounding remark. _What did she mean, must've been the wrong Elrics? I mean, how_ common _is a name like Elric anyway? And who names their kid Alphonse these days? There can't be that many Edward and Alphonse Elrics out there, especially ones young as I remember those two would be._

She could remember the two even now, their faces abruptly sharp in her mind: Edward, older than Alphonse by a year, grinning back at her with a lock of sun-kissed hair in one golden eye, his cute-even-then face alight with laughter as she reached out and just barely touched him, and he tripped and went tumbling down the hill into the river. Then Alphonse rushing up beside her, staring down the hill in a panic and screaming "Big brother!" in her ear, his darker brown-blond hair flying around his round face and grey eyes wide until he too tripped and fell head over heels down the hill, hitting his older brother and knocking him back for another good soaking.

Winry smirked out the window. _How lucky I am that the only clear memory I have of the Elric boys is of a good time! Heh, the good times just keep rolling on in, don't they?_ She sighed silently, clenching her hands in completely frustration at Riza for being confusing.

**FIRST CLASS: MATH**

Winry hated carrots. Winry hated the colour yellow. Winry hated the anime DNAngel. But more than anything, more than carrots or yellow or DNAngel anime, Winry hated MATH!!

She hated addition, subtraction, integers, BEDMAS, division, multiplication, fractions, negative and positive numbers, and every other type of math one could think of. Everything about math except when it ended, she completely and totally _despised._

So she was about an inch from screaming when she checked her new schedule and saw that her first class of the day was… math.

"Hey, at least you've got it with Mr. Havoc," Riza said with a mixture of comfort and sympathy. "He's so cool. Probably today, just because there's a new student, he won't make the class do any work. Oh, you have History with me; good! Ha, Science with Hughes; I pity you, he's a total science nerd! But you've got P.E. with Roy, lucky girl. And finally, Drama, with all three of us. Congratulations. Well, see you in History; I've got to get to my own gym class." "Bye," Winry said a little uncertainly, as Riza peeled away from her to catch up with Hughes strolled just ahead.

"Room 216?" she muttered, looking up at the red numbers on the blue classroom doors. "Oh, here it is." She pushed open the barely-ajar door and slipped in awkwardly, placing her books on a desk at the back, turning her head to the left to look at the colourful, humorous cartoon posters on the wall.

With her head in this position, and her mind taken up with the funny comics, she failed to notice the faint rustling of cloth and light footsteps coming her way, the flash of black and gold in her peripheral vision, until she felt a presence directly behind her. Gasping in shock, she whipped around, hair flying into her eyes.

"Hello, Winry. It's been a while."


	3. Familiarizations

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist, though I do have an Ed and Al wall scroll and a pair of pants that look kind of like Ed's.**

**With her head in this position, and her mind taken up with the funny comics, she failed to notice the faint rustling of cloth and light footsteps coming her way, the flash of black and gold in her peripheral vision, until she felt a presence directly behind her. Gasping in shock, she whipped around, hair flying into her eyes.**

"**Hello, Winry. It's been a while." **

Winry gaped. "It's you!" she cried, plunging forward into his arms. "It's been so long! How have you been?" He laughed, hugging her back. "Good, pretty good," he replied. "You? How is your granny? Your dog? Your parents?" Winry flinched, pulling away to sit on a desk. "Granny's fine, I'm fine, Den's fine," she said. "But… my parents… My dad got conscripted for the war, and my mom just _had_ to go with him, working as a nurse. Th-they got killed when a bomb hit my mom's medical tent."

Silence from him. Then: "Oh, my god. Winry, I'm so sorry! I never knew… the Colonel never tells me anything." Pulling in the rein on her tears, Winry managed to smile. "Well, Lieutenant Havoc," she said, turning away from the topic of her parents' deaths. "How did you get to be here, working at a high school?"

2nd Lieutenant Jean Havoc laughed, folding his arms and sitting on the desk across from her. "Well," he said, grinning. "It's a secret assignment, so I can't tell you much. Let's just say there are a few people here that need watching over by the military, and I was one of the ones chosen. Fuery's here too; he'll probably be teaching you English next semester." "Great," Winry said, smiling again. "Well, when does the bell ring?"

"Five minutes; now would be a great time to go to the bathroom or get a drink if you need it," Havoc replied. "I'm good," Winry said. "Then tell me why you moved here," he urged.

"Well," she began with a sigh. "When my parents died in the Ishbalan War, Granny and I decided we just _couldn't_ stay in Resembool. Too many memories. So we packed up and left for Central. We live about a thirty minute walk away in the townhouses, so I take the bus. Den lost a leg a few weeks after you guys left your Resembool post ten years ago—he was in the forest and got it caught in a bear trap—and I made him an automail one, just like Granny taught me. I've gotten really good, just ask her. Automail is my passion." "Don't get into the technicals; I'll never be able to understand it," Havoc chided gently. He glanced down at his watch. "Well, I need to get my lesson plan together. You've got two minutes, Winry. Oh, make that one."

Seeing no point in leaving the classroom to walk a lap around the halls, get a drink or go to the bathroom, Winry sat down in her chosen desk and proceeded to pick at a hangnail. "How long are the classes, _Mr._ Havoc?" she said in a mock tone of voice. "An hour each, _Miss_ Rockbell," Havoc said in the same tone, typing away at his computer. "Oh, fun, a full hour of math," Winry said dryly. "How come _you're_ the math teacher?" "Would you rather it was the Fuhrer?" Havoc shot back. "I stand corrected," Winry chuckled, ripping off the hangnail. "Ow." "That's why you don't rip those off," Havoc said over the sound of the bell.

A few drops of blood welled up in the space where the nail had been. Winry put the finger in her mouth and sucked it up. "Shut up, Havoc," she said around the finger, as the classroom door opened and a small group of four students flocked in, quickly followed by more and more. Winry shrank down in her seat, feeling suddenly shy. Riza and Hughes and Roy weren't in this class with her, she remembered. "Everyone sit down!" Havoc bellowed, strolling to the front of the room. "I have an announcement! C'mere, Winry." _Oh, no,_ Winry realised. _He's gonna introduce me to the whole class!_ Shooting Havoc a Death Glare, she pulled herself out of her seat and slunk up to the front of the class.

Everyone went silent as Havoc put a hand on her shoulder. "Okay, you guys," he said. "This is Winry Rockbell, a new student from Resembool. You'd better make her feel welcome or I'll only tell her when the tests are." There was a small smattering of laughter. "I mean it," Havoc insisted, tugging his black shirt straight, but there was a smile on his face. "Okay, Winry, go sit down. Let's do attendance, everyone, then you can all say hi to Winry or something like that, I don't care. Just don't completely destroy my classroom. Leo? Where's Leo—oh, there you are."

Winry slipped back into her seat, beside the sullen blond boy that had been on the bus. "Hello," she said to him. There was something intensely familiar about him. He merely grunted and averted his eyes.

Winry narrowed her eyes at him. He had a face most girls (including Winry, she shamelessly admitted to herself) would die to see in a smile, with longish blond hair that was tied back in a braid that ended near the end of his shoulder-blades. His golden eyes were far-away and glazed over slightly. He was short, but obviously her age. He was dressed in a black muscle shirt with a black sweater-thing over it that was like a vest, but had sleeves and otherwise only came down to his elbows, but they both matched his black pants and loose black boots. He wore white gloves over his hands, and was rotating and clenching his right one as though it hurt him.

_He's so familiar! What is it about him that—_

"Edward Elric? Oh, hey, you're actually here," Havoc said dryly, interrupting Winry's thought. "Whatever," the boy snapped back, drumming the fingers of his left hand on his desk. Winry jerked in her seat.

Edward Elric!?!?


End file.
